If you experienced a drop in rankings, traffic or earnings this past year then you're likely searching everywhere for the latest greatest "SEO tricks" to regain your rankings.
There have always been tricks, loopholes, products, programs, etc that promise you quick success in the search engines. Some of them even work - temporarily.
Many of them can ultimately tank your site in the search results though, or at the very least leave you scrambling for the next best "trick" to try when that one no longer works.
Ironically, those "fast results" options eat up much more of your time & resources than simply writing and optimizing naturally. This has always been the case, but it's especially important now with the search engines becoming more intuitive...
Karon Thackston has been teaching these very methods (that work!) for years in her Step-by-Step Copywriting Course. She takes you through all the steps of writing copy that will rank high in the major search engines, and convert better - so that you get more leads and more sales from your content marketing.
Her SEO Copywriting course is very practical - easy to understand and apply - and is broken into 10 video modules so you don't have to set aside an entire hour or more to learn each of the steps. Ideally you will learn and implement as you go, one step at a time, and this course is set up perfectly for that!
Given the effects of Google's Panda and Penguin updates that so many online business owners experienced over the last year, Karon has been busily educating her readers on some of the current issues - and how to implement necessary changes to keep your pages ranking AND converting at their best.
I've been following Karon's updates, and so I'll share a few highlights with you as a sort of checklist to make sure you're on the right track with the current issues:
Stop Over-Optimization!
Over-optimizing your web pages is a real concern with current search algorithms. Google spokesperson, Matt Cutts says, "People can overdo it to the point that we consider it keyword stuffing and it hurts. I would just make sure you do it in natural ways where regular people aren’t going to find it stiff/artificial. That tends to be what works best."
Smart Use of Synonyms
Google started incorporating synonyms into their algorithms several years ago. Synonyms are words with the same or similar meanings, and are used naturally in conversation so that you don't sound redundant when you're speaking. The same rule should be applied to your writing.
The goal is to target a keyword phrase and use it 1-3 times in your copy, but to otherwise simply stay relevant to your topic in a very natural way.
Quality Rules
“Never sacrifice the quality of your copy for the sake of the search engines.”
-Karon Thackston
What may have worked in the past for "quick rankings" is no longer relevant. Quality pages, quality people and quality offers will rise to the top in the new search results - and even more so with future updates. Google is getting more and more intuitive about what "quality" really is, based not just on SEO strategies alone but on votes and responses by their searchers - and by your market's peers.
Better Targeting = Higher Conversion Rate
People are more savvy (and more skeptical!) than ever. You can't just guess who your target market is and use "standard copy" in your content. You have to understand exactly who you're writing to, what they need or want, and their preferred communication style (and/or lingo) in order to create content that compels visitors to read your copy and take a specific action.
Consider these four SEO copywriting tips carefully.
While they may seem obvious, old habits die hard and you may be hurting your rankings and conversions without even realizing it.
There are many people banging their heads against the wall trying to figure out why their content won't rank or convert. It's frustrating and confusing, especially if prior methods were working just fine before. Karon's practical in-depth copywriting course not only tells you why, but shows you how to fix the problems.
Best,
* This post was sponsored by Karon Thackston and written by Lynn Terry. There are no affiliate links in this post, but I will say that I have been a happy customer of her tutorials for many years - and highly recommend her Copywriting Course to anyone with an online business!
About Lynn Terry
My sites have been doing good. I pretty much ignore all the SEO hype and just produce content.
Thanks Lynn, when you break it down it really should be simple. Over-Optimization is not as prevalent as it was before the Google Penguin update of april 2012, nevertheless you still do see meta tags and title tags stuffed with keywords.
Thanks Lynn, for sharing Karon Thackston's SEO tips. I'm gradually moving from the newbie to intermediate stage, but occasionally slip back into old habits.
The biggest failing I make, is thinking about "Mr. Google" when I write a post, rather than keeping a focus on my real flesh and blood readers.
You've prompted me to revise some of my earlier efforts.